Activists hoping to have California pull out from the US will soon start gathering signatures for their petition.
AP: "A group that wants California to secede from the United States can start collecting signatures for its ballot initiative."
"The state attorney general issued an official ballot measure title and summary Tuesday. The campaign can now start gathering the more than 585,000 signatures it will need to qualify for the 2018 ballot."
"The initiative would form a commission to recommend avenues for California to pursue its independence and delete part of the state constitution that says it is an inseparable part of the U.S. The measure would also instruct the governor and California congressional delegation to negotiate more autonomy for the state."
A farmer fighting with the feds over a wheat field is taking new steps to have the lawsuit dropped.
Sacramento Bee's DALE KASLER/RYAN SABALOW: "Northern California farmer John Duarte, facing millions of dollars in fines for plowing a Sacramento Valley wheat field, previously sought help from President Donald Trump’s attorney general and EPA chief to get the government off his back."
"Now Duarte is making an 11th-hour bid for a dismissal of the federal government’s high-profile case against him."
"In papers filed over the weekend, Duarte’s lawyers said the case should be tossed out because they say the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t have the authority to sue him in the first place. Only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can bring such a case, and the EPA chose not to do so, the lawyers said."
READ MORE related to Environment: Brown signs cap and trade extension, Schwarzenegger blasts Trump -- The Chronicle's DAVID R. BAKER
Trump and his team are still looking for a way to undercut Mueller's independent investigation.
Sacramento Bee's DAVID GOLDSTEIN: "The nation’s capital hasn’t seen a summer like this in at least a generation."
"There’s growing talk that President Donald Trump might try to pulls strings to remove Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating whether his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Trump has publicly, and now daily, undercut his attorney general, former Sen. Jeff Sessions, an early and top ally who recused himself from the Russia inquiry, and is said to be looking for ways to oust him."
"The president has already sacked one FBI director — James Comey — over his anger with the ongoing Russia investigation. He has also reportedly inquired about his power to pardon – presumably aides and family members linked to the Russia probe, and there are several, and possibly himself as well."
A California creamery is revolutionizing the way we use cow-produced methane -- one of the biggest contributors to climate change.
The Chronicle's TARA DUGGAN: "With barely a sound, the red and white International Harvester feed truck unloaded a mix of silage, barley and rice to a dozen pregnant cows, releasing a sour, grassy aroma into the foggy morning at Straus Family Creamery in Marshall. The all-electric feed truck is entirely powered by methane gas that was released by the farm’s 280 cows, or rather, their poop."
“I like to say the cows are powering the truck that feeds them,” said owner Albert Straus, whose organic dairy is perched on the edge of Tomales Bay in Marin County."
"The truck, which went into service this month, had a timely debut. On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation extending cap-and-trade regulations, AB398, part of the state’s effort to cut greenhouse gases 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Methane gas heats up the atmosphere as much as 20 times as quickly as carbon dioxide, and a big source is cow manure and burps."
The Senate has agreed to 'open debate on repealing Obamacare.'
The Chronicle's CAROLYN LOCCHEAD: "Republicans’ determined but beleaguered effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act took a step forward Tuesday when the Senate narrowly agreed to open debate on a replacement to the landmark health care law after days of pressure from President Trump."
"But hours later, the Senate blocked a wide-ranging proposal by Republicans to repeal much of former President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with a more restrictive plan."
